No Borders North East

2011 involved a variety of actions, talks and events for No Borders North East…

Actions included some of the group travelling to Dale Farm, a site home to travellers who were threatened with eviction.  Residents and visitors worked hard to resist eviction together, including building barricades, securing people’s homes and mounting challenges in the law courts. The Traveller Solidarity Network, a network of Travelling and settled people, working together to promote and effect equality, challenge discrimination and work against evictions has emerged from the resistance.

Some people from No Borders NE went to the No Borders camp in Bulgaria, spending a week in an area key to the expansion of the EU border regime. Discussions, film showings and protests were arranged in towns and villages locally and in nearby sites in Greece which raised awareness and provided information about detention centres, border controls, economic migration and what people can do.  One outcome of the camp was to show people who lived in the region and are affected by border controls, that there was transnational support for freedom of movement.

In November people joined protests against dawn raids snatching people from their homes in Glasgow.  The protest stopped any vans going out that day, keeping the gates shut for a marathon 10 hours!

In December No Borders NE held a protest against deportations, at North Shields UKBA reporting centre, supported by Tyneside Community Action Against Racism and others.

Films Without Borders Film Festival at the Star and Shadow Cinema, Newcastle, with local invited speakers, helped build links with other groups. Issues covered in the film series included journeys, destitution, living conditions and resistance.

The group ran a busy workshop at the Free Hetherington Glasgow University Student Occupation, linking border control regimes to an unequal economic system, exploitation and creation of cheap labour markets and reinforcing privilege. The workshop was also run by No Borders NE in a series of seminars as part of a module at Newcastle University.

Some people were invited to contribute to a handbook for ‘radical teenagers’ and created a graphic novel zine, showing individuals journeys being compared and linked in terms of nationality and privilege.

People involved in No Borders North East also went to Beyond Borders Day School in Bristol, Bridget Anderson (Justice For Domestic Migrant Workers, Oxford University), spoke on “Why No Borders?”, Clara Osagiede (RMT Cleaners Rep, Living Wage Campaign) spoke on “Migrant Worker Struggle” and Ann Singleton (Statewatch) discussed “The Changing Meaning of Borders in the EU”.

Newcastle Conversation Group continued to be lively and busy every week offering friendship and mutual aid, as well as putting on events, fundraising, supporting the campaign against ESOL cuts and more.

Onward to solidarity and resistance in 2012!

To get involved, contact nobordersnortheast[@]ucrony[.]net

Find news on the No Borders Convergence coming up in February 2012 here and in several languages here

The National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns is a UK organisation which supports community-led campaigns for justice in the asylum and immigration system, with a focus on supporting people facing forced removal.

Their news service gives up to date information on immigration and asylum issues.

See their review of stories from 2011 here, including on the opening of a new immigration prison in Lincolnshire, whistleblowing about ‘lethal techniques’ used  by private company G4S during forced removals, resistance to charter flights and loads more…

More info on charter flights
http://stopdeportations.wordpress.com/about-charter-flights/

No Borders! No Nations! Stop Deportations!

Last week saw protests against a UK charter flight to Sri Lanka, in which  activists struck at the heart of the Government’s “unjust deportation machine”, and blocked the road outside Colnbrook and Harmondsworth immigration prisons with ‘lock-on’ devices and a tripod.

Today, Monday 19 Dec, the UK Border Agency are carrying out a mass deportation of Afghan asylum seekers to Kabul.

In response to this there will be a protest at 12 noon outside of the UKBA Reporting Centre in North Shields, Tyne & Wear.

Charter flights are a numbers driven exercise to remove as many people as possible. They are conducted under a veil of secrecy which denies deportees access to justice. With the secrecy surrounding charter flights it is impossible to know how many other deportees on this, and other flights have been similarly denied access to justice and equality.

The  UK asylum determination system is structured towards denying as many applications as possible. Because of this, people who are in need of sanctuary are refused status, made destitute and subjected to violent enforcement procedures. Charter flights such as this one and forced removals in general must be stopped.

Afghanistan is not safe

With regard to Afghanistan, just 2 weeks ago, Human Rights Watch reported:

‘Conflict-related violence remains a daily reality in many parts of the country.’

[Human Rights Watch – Afghanistan: A decade of Missed Opportunities 4 Dec 2011 http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/12/03/afghanistan-decade-missed-opportunities ]

The United Nations also has also raised concerns about conditions for people returned to Afghanistan:

‘The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that a significant number of all returnees (potentially 40 per cent) are still in need of reintegration support and that many (potentially 28 per cent) are in dire need of humanitarian assistance.’ 

UN, The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security, 09/03/2011. http://www.ecoi.net/file_upload/1226_1300285687_n1125034.pdf
Yet the UK Border Agency ignore these reports in favour of out of date country evidence which supports their claim that Afghanistan is a safe place.

Stop Deportations

Forced removals such as this are an illustration of the violence and indifference that are essential components of the UK’s dehumanising migration regime. The vast majority of deportations have been to countries devastated by wars and armed conflicts such as Afghanistan, Iraq, DR Congo, Nigeria, Jamaica, Sri Lanka. After being forcibly deported, many have been kidnapped, imprisoned, tortured and killed. Others have had to change their identities or move again to avoid persecution. Forcible deportations tear apart people’s lives as they are split from their families and communities and their right to freedom of movement is denied.

Stop Deportations! Freedom of Movement for all!

More on Afghanistan:

UK Government, on the Foreign and Commonwealth office’s website, states that Kabul is not a safe place:

‘No part of Afghanistan should be considered immune from violence and the potential exists throughout the country for hostile acts.’

‘The kidnap threat throughout the country remains high, particularly against local nationals.’

‘We advise against all but essential travel to Kabul. There are regular, indiscriminate rocket and bomb attacks in the city.’[1]

On Monday 19th September, after a stressful day of waiting for the 1st attempt by baliffs to enter Dale Farm travellers site  -  which certainly would have been repelled – residents and their supporters could relax for a couple of days thanks to a rare positive intervention on the part of the travellers from a high court judge… Read more in Dale Farm Lives On ! a report by Bristol No Borders.

The latest news is that the Dale Farm case is back in the courts on Friday 23 Sept, see below for the call-out for ongoing support.

Dale Farm eviction postponed (but not cancelled)….

CALL OUT!

Solidarity is needed at Dale Farm, Essex, with ongoing activities against the upcoming forced eviction of 90 families.

Basildon Council has said the eviction is planned to take place week beginning 19^th September 2011, when electricity supplies will also be cut.

Dale Farm residents are calling on supporters to come and help them stop the eviction. They are also calling for legal observers and human rights monitors to come down to act as witnesses. Dale Farm is only a half hour by train from London Liverpool Street Station. http://dalefarm.wordpress.com/contact

The council has threatened to close roads around Dale Farm in advance of the eviction, so it is recommended that people come as many days before the eviction as possible. Also, there is plenty of work needed to prepare in advance. Sleeping space in homes are available, but please bring a tent if you can as bed space limited to those in need. People are welcome at Dale Farm any time. See http://dalefarm.wordpress.com/activity for details.

Tat list http://dalefarm.wordpress.com/tat-needed/

The No Border camp set-up began a week before the opening, with lots of preparation work like digging trenches for water supply, and building infrastructure.

One of the aims of the camp was raising the issue of the border locally, and supporting and extending local solidarity work.

Film screenings and discussions took place in local villages in the run up to the camp, where there were really interesting conversations with local people on the frontline of the border regime, who told stories of meeting people crossing the border in search of safety and security.

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Detention Centre in Lyubimetz

Other people discussed government and media propaganda on the new detention and reception centres, and were keen to see what they were like in reality.

The Camp was visited by lots of people from nearby Siva Reka and Svilengrad, including at a dinner for the local community and at the party at the end of the camp, and good relations were built up in the local area.

At the border...

Throughout the week, workshops and discussions took place including on the situation in Greece, the Welcome to Europe project, privilege and racism, People of Colour self-organisation and empowerment, sharing experiences of supporting people who are migrating, No Border camps – experiences and expectations, Theatre of the Oppressed, and loads more…

There were also demonstrations, street theatre and other events.

Demonstration at Lyubimetz

On 26th August a march took place in Svilengrad, 27 August saw events at the Bulgaria-Greece and Bulgaria-Turkey border, and on 29th August a demonstration was held at the detention centre in Lyubimetz, more info in press releases below.

Camp press releases

No Border Camp 2011 – first demos at the border crossings with Greece and Turkey

No Border Camp 2011 – Demonstration in front of the detention center in city of Lyubimetz

Photos

Protest in Svilengrad – http://bulgaria.indymedia.org/article/38011

Border protest – http://bulgaria.indymedia.org/article/38012

Detention centre demonstration – http://bulgaria.indymedia.org/article/38020

No-Border-Cats in Svilengrad – http://bulgaria.indymedia.org/article/38015

Policing the border during protests

Blogs

http://a3yo.noblogs.org/post/2011/09/02/nobordercamp-bulgaria-2011-expectations-and-arrival/

http://a3yo.noblogs.org/post/2011/09/02/nobordercamp-bulgaria-2011-actions-in-svilengrad/

Other news articles

http://no-racism.net/article/3888/ (in German)

http://no-racism.net/article/3892/ (in German)

Camp news page

http://www.noborderbulgaria.org/en/node/49

Borders of Bulgaria in the news

http://www.noborderbulgaria.org/en/node/12

'Die-in' on the road at the Bulgarian border

Lyubimetz demonstration

Siva Reka, site of the No Border Bulgaria camp, is a small village in the border region close to the border with Greece and Turkey. It is a region without much work which seems to have resulted in many people moving away to work (to other cities and countries). And with a lot of EU money invested in ‘security’ – jobs with the border authorities are one of the few opportunities. Many people have relatives and friends who work in these jobs.

The region has been affected by the border in various ways at different times. During the Balkan Wars, population exchange programmes took place, while during the Cold War period the Bulgarian-Turkish border was one of the most heavily fortified in Europe. Today, the region is one of both inward and outward migration.

The border is now being fortified, as Bulgaria tries to join the Schengen Agreement area  - in which EU states have reduced border controls within the EU  (for EU nationals), and at the same time a strengthened external border, sometimes described as ‘Fortress Europe’.

Detention Centre in Lyubimetz

In Lyubimetz, 20km from the No Border camp, a new 350 capacity detention centre has been built, funded with 80% European funding, and in Pastrogor, a few more km away, a 350 capacity fast-track ‘transit centre’ is about to open. Other centres have opened in Sofia, Busmantzi and Banya. The border itself is being fortified, with increased controls, extending the quantity and quality of border surveillance and monitoring equipment, new migrant and visa legislation, as well as other measures. Bulgaria has spent 160 million euros during the last three years for “strengthening its borders”, 80% financed by the European Union. The EU is increasing its allocation of funds for the implementation of border management to Bulgaria in 2012 through the External Borders Fund. More info on Bulgaria and Schengen at http://noborderbulgaria.org/en/node/33

Svilengrad is a small town in the border region where alot of inward and outward migration takes place but without much active opposition to the nationalistic Bulgarian state attitude on migration and miltarisation of the borders. On Friday (26th August) hundreds of people from the No Borders camp organised actions in the town to demonstrate against Frontex who have a regional office in the town centre, to commemorate that hundreds of people have died trying to arrive in the region without official status and to discuss migration issues with people who live in the area.

Info displays in Svilengrad

Street displays A large world map was presented in different locations along the main street and people invited to draw onto it with pens their histories of migration. People who lived in the area often initially responded that they’d lived in the town all their lives, but it turned out to be more indirect than that. People from the No Borders camp got going discussions about why people move and why States try to stop people from free movement. There were lots of positive conversations and people taking part.

Demonstration outside the Border Agency, Svilengrad. Picture from http://a3yo.noblogs.org/

Demonstration against Frontex (more info about Frontex here). Hundreds of people gave out flyers with information about a detention centre recently built in the region and walked to the office of the Border Agency, who carry out joint operations with Frontex. Shoes were laid and candles lit to symbolically draw attention to the inhumane cruelty of Frontex’ s work. These actions made the front page of a local newspaper,with a photo and caption: “hundreds of young people from EU countries demonstrated yesterday for rights for migrants and refugees”. It ignored the political angle of border control systems and just went for a humanitarian focus, but is pretty good for a generally very very nationalistic country. Another newspaper reported that the young demonstrators broke windows, attacked people and were naked, which was definitely not true, but shows how much reporters can twist things! The possibility of suing the newspaper is being investigated by people at the Camp.

Photos at http://bulgaria.indymedia.org/article/38011

The Dale Farm estate is a former scrapyard bought by Traveller families and has existed since the 1970s. Basildon Council has targeting half the community for destruction, and has failed to provide alternative sites for families to move to. Families have been given until midnight on August 31st 2011 to abandon their homes or have them bulldozed. Basildon have voted to spend a third of its budget — £8 million demolishing the estate and turning people out onto the road. The policing of what could be a three-week operation has an additional price tag of £10 million, of which £6 million is being provided by the Home Office.

There will be activity weekends at Dale Farm, every Saturday until the opening of Camp Constant,  a mass gathering of national and international supporters of the Dale Farm community  on the Saturday, 27th, 11 am which is the final weekend before Travellers have been told they must abandon their homes or face the bulldozers. Residents of Dale Farm have invited supporters down for a long weekend of skill sharing and cultural celebration. Join them for:

* Training for legal observers and human rights monitors
* Practical eviction resistance workshops
* Acoustic music on Saturday night
* Media training, including photography, film making, reportage
* Traveller history & celebration

From September 1st onwards, a constant presence at Dale Farm is needed in case of eviction. You can sign up to spend a night at Dale Farm: https://smsalerts.tachanka.org/dalefarm/

Demonstrate on Saturday Sept 10 against the £18 million eviction of 90 Traveller families from their homes and Eric Pickles’s Localism bill, which removes the requirement of local council’s to provide alternative sites.

Dale Farm Solidarity has called a demonstration starting at 1pm on Saturday Sept 10th. Meet at Wickford Train Station, 30 minutes by train from London Liverpool Street Station. The march will then proceed to Dale Farm and Camp Constant, a base for human rights monitors and those who will engage in civil disobedience to stop the bulldozing.

For more information, updates, and to check the dates of activity days see: http://dalefarm.wordpress.com/activity and https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_124229427082

Following the eastward expansion of the EU, countries like Bulgaria and Romania are progressively cracking down on those that try to cross their borders and rampantly working against freedom of movement.

The Bulgarian government’s current target date for joining the Schengen zone is 2012. To be able to join, Bulgaria would have to increase restrictions on people migrating, as well as increase the militarization of the border. Already, detention centres are being built. Following the participation of Bulgarian border police in FRONTEX operations along the Greek-Turkish border, there is talk of extending the agency’s operations to the border between Bulgaria and Turkey. These developments, together with the deterioration of the migrants’ situation in neighboring Greece, are the two immediate reasons for organizing a No Border camp at the border between Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey this month. The NoBorder camp Bulgaria will take place between the 25th and the 29th of August, 2011.

The topics that will be addressed include: The militarization of the borders; Deterioration of freedom of movement across the Balkan borders The criminalization of the situation of migrants and refugees in Bulgaria The neo-liberal politics that support and enhance these problems How to organize in ways that will better the human, social, legal, and economic condition of migrants and refugees in Bulgaria and around Europe plus more… More info at www.noborderbulgaria.org/